Comic 315 - Force sync Michelle

Author Notes:

You explain to Caius about syncing--that rather than just perceiving through someone, you can sort of bring minds together, letting the synced individuals share thoughts and even talents. You explain how you've used it to gain Fuse's computer knowledge, and granted Fuse Michelle's gun skills, among other things.

"Huh. That's... somethin', I guess."

It seems like it might take him a little while to come to terms with it.

You also elaborate on the current plan--that you've never forced a sync on someone before, but there's critical information you need to get out of Macland about who's really behind all this. So, you're going to practice with Michelle.

"You, uh... you kids have fun with that."

You and Michelle head back to the car, and you tell Fuse what you're going to do. Michelle sits down in the backseat, since she's going to be asleep for this.

"You might both want to sit down," Fuse suggests. "You tend to like... zone out during a normal sync. I don't know what's going to happen when you force one."

So, you sit down in the backseat next to Michelle. You pass her out, then extend her sleep... and then begin trying to sync with her. The goal is to learn something, anything, that you didn't know going in. Nothing specific, just a short dig as a proof of concept.

You feel a tension in your head as you push for the sync. There's a definite resistance, just almost painful.

You suddenly find yourself on a small island.

The air feels... heavy, and you have a strange sense of discomfort. You feel like you did when you first started encountering your red--when it was trying to frighten you.

Michelle has us up on a pedestal...that's...sweet? But also a little off-putting. I'd rather we be just another person to her, but at least her opinion of us is a positive one.

Is the red blood...our blood? Like the effects of our blood sitting around in her mind? We might be able to use it to manipulate the environment.

I bet that whatever we're looking for is behind that barbed wire there. My first instinct is to use the axe to cut the wire, but I am a bit worried about the effects on Michelle. Still...I guess the whole point of this exercise is to see what works.

My vote for action is to investigate the brown lumps, then use that axe to try and cut the bottom two strands of barbed wire, to see if we can crawl under.